James Levine will conduct the fourth annual collaboration between the Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School, an evening of comic opera featuring singers of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard.
Performances of "A Concert of Comic Operas" will take place at Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater on February 11 and 14 at 8:00 p.m. and February 16 at 2:00 p.m.
The young singers will perform excerpts and scenes from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, as well as Stravinsky's rarely performed Mavra. Edward Berkeley will direct the program in a semi-staged concert version.
"This eclectic program features four diverse works that will suit the abilities of these very talented young singers," said Levine, music directof of the Metropolitan Opera. "It's also a wonderful chance for the musicians in the Juilliard Orchestra to experience working with singers in repertory from different periods and in different styles."
Tickets for these performances will be available at the Juilliard box office starting on January 16. For more information, visit www.juilliard.edu/MetJuilliard.
Casting for "A Concert of Comic Operas" was recently announced:
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Act I
Benjamin Bliss as Pedrillo, Ying Fang as Konstanze, Ryan Speedo Green as Osmin, Andrew Stenson as Belmonte and Jake Alan Nelson as Selim
Benvenuto Cellini, Act I, Scene 1
Brandon Cedel as Balducci, Ying Fang as Teresa, Anthony Kalil as Cellini, Yunpeng Wang as Fieramosca
L'elisir d'amore, Act I, Part 2
Mario Chang as Nemorino, Ying Fang as Adina, Ryan Speedo Green as Dulcamara, Alexey Lavrov as Belcore, Pureum Jo as Gianetta
Mavra
Benjamin Bliss as Vassili, Mary-Jane Lee as Parasha, Lacey Jo Benter as The Neighbor, Margaret Lattimore as The Mother
The partnership between the Met and Juilliard was announced in 2008. This collaboration aims to use the resources of both institutions to educate the finest young opera singers and collaborative pianists for careers in the world's great opera houses. The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program is under the leadership of James Levine, artistic director, and Brian Zeger, executive director. Zeger also is artistic director of the Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard.
